A sexy standalone novel from New York Times and international bestselling author Elle Kennedy

Everyone says opposites attract. And they must be right, because there’s no logical reason why I’m so drawn to Colin Fitzgerald. I don’t usually go for tattoo-covered, video-gaming, hockey-playing nerd-jocks who think I’m flighty and superficial. His narrow view of me is the first strike against him. It doesn’t help that he’s buddy-buddy with my brother.

And that his best friend has a crush on me.

And that I just moved in with them.

Oh, did I not mention we’re roommates?

I suppose it doesn’t matter. Fitzy has made it clear he’s not interested in me, even though the sparks between us are liable to burn our house down. I’m not the kind of girl who chases after a man, though, and I’m not about to start. I’ve got my hands full dealing with a new school, a sleazy professor, and an uncertain future. So if my sexy brooding roomie wises up and realizes what he’s missing?

He knows where to find me.

The Chase kicks off the Off-Campus spin-off series, Briar U and it features some familiar characters in Summer Hayward-Di Laurentis and Colin Fitzgerald. We first meet Summer in her brother’s book, The Score. Summer comes to visit her brother Dean at school and takes one look at Fitzy and she wants him. She’s carried a huge ol’ crush on Fitzy around with her ever since and when she transfers from Brown to Briar, things get really interesting for her.

Fitzy is attracted to Summer, of course he is but he can’t go there because 1) She’s Dean’s sister and 2) She’s the exact opposite of everything he is and everything he has no interest in being. She’s outgoing and social where he’s more reserved and more comfortable alone and at home. Sure, he’s a hockey player and he does go out from time to time, but he really loves the quiet that comes from being alone with his art and video games.

Things really get going for them when Summer moves in with Fitzy and the rest of his roommates at the Off-Campus house. She needs a place to stay and they need a roommate so win-win right? Hahaha, oh the drama that comes with Summer moving in. The shenanigans that these two get into was so much fun.

Elle Kennedy does what she does best with this book. She brings together two characters in a way that will have you itching to keep turning the pages. There’s a lot of charm, a lot of OMG that didn’t just happen moments along with characters that will make you laugh and cheer for as you keep reading.

Summer was probably my favorite part of the book even though I did come to love Fitzy but I really enjoyed getting to know Summer because she seemed to be a lot of fun in Dean’s book and that was brought to the front of the class in this one. I loved how strong she was despite being so insecure about her learning disability. Having a daughter who has a learning disability, it made me appreciate Summer’s drive and her willingness to do whatever it took to stay on top of her course studies. I also really enjoyed how she didn’t let Fitzy get away with the shit that he tried to pull with her. Her friendship with Brenna was another thing that I absolutely loved about her. She seriously rocked and even though I thought she led Hunter on for a little bit, I still really liked her.

This week’s book boyfriend is definitely Colin Fitzgerald. As pissed off as he made me, I still loved the hell out of him and his love for Summer. There were times when I wanted to punch him in the junk but as the story continued, my love for him to started to shine through. I loved how he got his shit together and really fell into being Summer’s boyfriend.

He was smart and he was a guy trying to be good and failing miserably but I liked that he did work to turn things around.

This is who I pictured as Fitzy because I love me some Josh from Younger and he fits the image that I have of Colin Fitzgerald. The tats, the good looks, I can definitely see it.

I’m really looking forward to the other books in this series, especially the next book, The Risk. Brenna completely won me over in this book and I cannot wait to see her get her happily ever after. I sincerely hope that her love ends up being Harvard guy because I’m so here for all of the heckling she’ll be doing at his games and the sparks flew all over whenever they were around each other…seriously, their story would be so epic. He’s the star of the rival team, she’s the daughter to the coach of his rival team…they’re supposed to hate each other and yet, they fall in love instead. Who wouldn’t want that story???

Anyway, back to The Chase, this book had all of Elle Kennedy’s trademark humor and sexy story time that I enjoy but there were things that I didn’t care for (the whole thing with Hunter, the way that things were handled with the professor and assistant dean then all of the douche behavior from Fitzy). Still, it was a solid effort and I ended up enjoying the book so I’m planted firmly in the I can’t wait for the next book to come out camp. If you enjoy contemporary NA with compelling characters and a steamy romance then you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

Final Grade

4 out of 5

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Briar U Series